Arizona Territory

The Arizona Territory was a territory of the United States that existed from 24 February 1863 to 14 February 1912, encompassing the current state of Arizona. The territory was created from portions of the New Mexico Territory, and it was split by a vertical border with Arizona in order to prevent legitimizing the Confederacy's plan to create an "Arizona Territory" to the south of New Mexico. The first territorial capital was Fort Whipple, but it was moved to Prescott in 1864; from 1864 to 1867 and from 1877 to 1889, it would serve as the capital, while Tucson served as capital from 1867 to 1877, and in Phoenix after 1889.